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 | PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids. |
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Elijah of Buxton
- By Christopher Paul Curtis
- Genre: Historical Fiction
Common Sense Media says
Humorous, powerful, masterful escaped-slave tale.
Parents say
QUALITY
Kids say
QUALITY
What parents need to know
Parents need to know that, while this isn't as graphic as some books about slavery, it has its share of horrors, including beating deaths (only the aftermath described), lynching, scars from beatings and brandings, and adults and children shackled, starved, and deprived of water.
What's the story?
Elijah is the first child born in freedom in the Buxton settlement for escaped and freed slaves in Canada. Though he has certainly heard his elders talk, he has never experienced slavery directly. Instead, he has a good life, is getting a solid education, goes fishing, and lives with his loving family in their own home.
His closest experience of slavery has been the occasional rumors of slave catchers in the area, and when newly escaped slaves arrive at the settlement. That is, until the money Mr. Leroy was saving to buy the rest of his family out of slavery is stolen. Then Elijah, feeling partly responsible, agrees to cross over to America to try to get it back.
Includes Author's Note on Buxton, a real place, now an historic site.
Is it any good?
In Christopher Paul Curtis' award-winning debut, The Watsons Go to Birmingham - 1963, he firmly established the style that serves him so brilliantly in ELIJAH OF BUXTON. This is another first-person narrative, in vivid dialect, by a winningly naive child loaded with personality. Both books have a delightfully funny first half (some of the humor a bit off-color perhaps, but very true to the narrator's age and personality) and a powerfully moving historical event in the second half -- in this case, slavery -- made more powerful by the familiarity the reader has with the characters it will impact.
Despite one of the more hideous dust jackets in recent memory (you might want to remove the dust jacket before recommending it to a child), this wonderful, moving novel is sure to become a staple of discussion groups in schools and libraries across the country. Curtis' signal contribution to children's literature is his creation of novels that address important historical issues and events in an emotionally powerful, intellectually challenging, compassionate way, yet are simply rollicking good fun as well.
What families can talk about
Families can talk about Pa's statement regarding escaped slaves: "Don't no one get out of America without paying some terrible cost, without having something bad done permanent to 'em, without having something cut off of 'em or burnt into 'em or et up inside of 'em."
What does his statement mean, and do you think it was true?
How is it shown in each of the characters in the book?
What do you think about the aftermath of slavery?
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Kid, 12 years old
May 7, 2011
AGE
I Love this book
I love this book
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AGE
DO NOT READ THIS BOOK
I did not enjoy this book at all. Don't waste your time reading it.
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AGE
Good discussion and lots of laughs.
I read this to my daughter (9) and my son (7), and they both loved it. The over all plot is a little weak, but each chapter is almost like a mini story. The author does well mixing the funny with the serious for a well balanced book. It deals with the real horrors of slavery in a very real way for kids this age. The older they are the more they would understand about what the author is writing about.
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AGE
Great book, but depends on the target audience.
I am a 17 year old academic student, and love reading. I would aim this book towards ages of 12 - 15. This piece of literature touches on some fairly deep structures, may not be the best for age of 10 or younger. As for over 15 it may be a little waste of your time, find something deeper for you to read. Although i am a academic student, and i love reading, so if you are not a heavy reader and your 16, 17 i would consider reading it then. But beware, if you look at this book on a certain angle, it can be very touching and emotional.
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AGE
Its a book for tweens + :)
I think "Elijah of Buxton" is a great book for kids my age that understand what slavery is. I also think this because there a few bad words in it too. It has dialect that I can understand because of relatives I have. So you just have to read this book. its a very good book. I read it in my ELA class for lit. circles and all my friends keep joking around saying "That makes no sense. That makes no sense a'tall!" So just read this book!!!!! :D
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AGE
good history, good coming-of-age
We read it aloud, and all really liked some of Elijah's quite funny phrases and ways of seeing things. It was a good way to talk about the Underground Railroad, and how buying a slave's freedom was not always the end of the story.
Good discussion of growing up, exploration of the border between brave and reckless, of trying to live up to parent's expectations, and of being true to values even when pushing the boundaries of the actual rules
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| Author: | Christopher Paul Curtis |
| Book type: | Fiction |
| Genre: | Historical Fiction |
| Publisher: | Scholastic Inc. |
| Publication date: | August 1, 2007 |
| Number of pages: | 341 |
| Hardcover price: | $16.99 |
| Publisher's recommended age(s): | 8 - 12 |
| Read aloud: | 9 |
| Read alone: | 10 |
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